Learning from the Past, For Our Future || Ari & Julie

 

Day 9 (Hiroshima) | Ari and Julie

        こんにちは！Today was our only day in Hiroshima, made infamous as one of two cities in Japan who were affected by the atomic bombs dropped by United States bombers to accelerate the end of World War II. Our day started pretty early, since we had to be done with breakfast by 8:15 am, and a lot of us were still tired from the previous day in Himeji. However, we were allowed to go to breakfast on our own time, as long as we were all in the lobby by 8:30 and ready to go. 

Our first destination was Eikei University! We had met with some of the university students virtually prior to the trip, so we were excited to meet them face-to-face. When arriving at the university, we split up into small groups of 3-4 students and went to separate classrooms. Julie and I, Ari, went to Professor George’s class first, speech class!! The class was spoken entirely in English and we focused on body language while giving a presentation. We first practiced giving a presentation to one student, then our whole table, then the class. As we gave our presentations more and more, I got to see my Eikei University partner become more confident and relaxed. Our professor really emphasized eye contact and hand movement. As class finished, we said goodbye to our new friends and moved onto the second class.

        This second class was also given in complete English and it was a social sciences class. This class was a bit bigger and I befriended two exchange students from Myanmar and one student from Ukraine. It was interesting to see them converse in their native language and then switch to Japanese, then switch to English. Our class was given the task to discuss what peace meant to us, what it looks like in the modern world, and if we’ll actually be able to reach it. My table was very pessimistic about the topic; they all agreed that true global peace could never be achieved without some type of anarchist government in place and the people under the jurisdiction of the government may never find true peace, for they may retaliate against each other or rebel against the government. They came to the conclusion that peace is like utopia-- it’s a great idea, but it remains as just an idea, an idea to never be achieved. We also discussed how war is always inevitable. It felt quite depressing and made my hope dwindle a little. However, if I learned anything from the trip, I know I’m stubborn and won’t give up that easily. 

Once we finished our discussion, we were tasked to write a short essay that summarized the definition of peace. We were also encouraged to use SDGs in our essay, as Eikei University students were very familiar with the topic. One group came up with the essay:

Peace is necessary for a sustainable future, hence our idea of peace revolves around attaining the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. We majorly focused our discussion into three parts: social equality, zero discrimination, and eliminating corruption.

Social inequality is still very prevalent in many countries. Some examples include racial inequality, different socio-economic classes, and education availability. SDGs 1 (no poverty), 2 (zero hunger), 4 (quality education), 5 (gender equality), and 16 (peace, justice, and strong institutions), specifically address this issue. 

Discrimination occurs majorly due to social inequality, where particular groups are prioritized, which often induces conflict. Biases made based on factors such as race, religion, sex, age, and many other factors often lead to heightened tensions that have the potential to shatter the communal bond between individuals. 

Corruption, which takes many forms, also has a hand in maintaining law and order due to it existing in government and academic institutions. Some examples include bribery, extortion or blackmail, and fraud. Such cases can occur at individual, state, federal, and international levels. 

Based on our characteristics, most of them connect to our current UN Sustainable Development Goals. Therefore, peace may be achieved through attaining these SDGs. However, there is no true definition of peace, meaning that there cannot be a fully utopian society. However, by addressing these issues, we may become closer to achieving some sort of peace.

After this somber discussion, we headed to the Children’s Peace Monument with our new friends from Eikei! We went to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum first, constructed to educate all of us on the atrocities committed during wartime and why they should never, ever happen again. We were given about an hour to walk through the museum at our own pace. One of the first things we saw upon entering the museum was a diagram showing Hiroshima after the atomic bomb blast. Approximately 140,000 people, a majority of them civilians, died in the immediate aftermath of the bombings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. 

        As we walked through the museum, we learned many more heartbreaking stories, one of which was about a young girl named Sadako Sasaki. Sadako had been two years old at the time of the bombing, and eventually developed leukemia when she was twelve due to the radiation remnants. While she was in the hospital, Sadako began folding many paper cranes from medicine wrappers with the hope of recovery; one Japanese legend stated that anyone who folded one thousand paper cranes would be granted a wish. Even though Sadako folded over 1,300 paper cranes, her condition worsened, eventually resulting in her death. On display were some of the last cranes that Sadako folded before her death, and to be quite honest, seeing them broke my heart.

        After we finished walking through the museum, which had been very crowded, we listened to Iida-Sensei, a ひばくしゃ (atomic bomb survivor). His stories on suffering after the dropping of the atomic bomb were heartbreaking, but his resilience and recovery is inspiring.

        

Then, we were given the opportunity to walk through the Peace Memorial Park, guided by Nao-Sensei and Momoka-Sensei, although some people had to stay back because they were feeling sick. We saw the Atomic Bomb Dome, which had been partially destroyed by the bombing, as well as the Children’s Peace Monument. After Ari recited the Pledge for Peace and we all added our individual pledge for the future, she placed the 1,000 cranes we brought to Japan near the statue. (Kudos to Ari for bringing a majority of the cranes in her suitcase and staying up late to finish stringing the rest of them with Ms. Shiloh)

 

 

        Today’s dinner was Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki, which is a traditional Japanese savory pancake dish served with noodles. Since some of our group weren’t feeling too well, we got to have second servings if we wanted (I couldn’t even finish my first plate 😭). Once we all finished dinner, we took a relatively short shinkansen ride to Fukuoka, the last city in Japan we were visiting on this study tour. We checked into the Daiwa Roynet Hotel, which we noticed was a lot bigger than our hotel in Hiroshima. Me and Ari’s hotel room was on the 13th floor; it was a suite and really spacious. We ended up being so tired, though, that we fell asleep almost immediately. 

Overall, today was a great day to reflect on the past and how we can work together, as global citizens, to build a better future. Working with Japanese university students from many different backgrounds helped us realize that we all have a similar common goal: a peaceful, secure, and equitable society. We’re so honored to have learned such valuable lessons here in Hiroshima, even though we had such a short time here. On behalf of me and Ari, thanks for taking the time to read our blog! さようなら！